James Donaldson (basketball)
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James Lee Donaldson III (born August 16, 1957 in Heacham, England) is a former professional basketball player who grew up in California and played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association.
Donaldson, a 7'2" center, starred at Luther Burbank High School and Washington State University in the late 1970s before being drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in 1979. He played three seasons with Seattle before moving on to the San Diego (later Los Angeles) Clippers. During the 1984-85 NBA season, while with the Clippers, Donaldson led the league in field goal percentage at 0.637 — still one of the ten highest percentages in NBA history.
Donaldson joined the Dallas Mavericks in 1985. Donaldson had his finest years while playing for the Mavericks, providing rebounding and shot-blocking to complement Dallas' star-studded line-up, which included Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman, Roy Tarpley, Derek Harper, and Brad Davis. Donaldson himself earned a spot on the 1988 All-Star Team during a season in which the Mavericks reached the Western Conference Finals before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.
After brief stints with the New York Knicks and Utah Jazz in the early 1990s, injuries forced Donaldson into retirement, and he left the NBA in 1995 with 8,203 career points, 7,492 career rebounds, and 1,267 career blocks.
After his NBA career he played in Greece for Iraklis B.C. (1993-94) and AEL (1997-98 Greek A2 League).
He currently lives in the Seattle area, where he runs a physical therapy business. He is also a motivational speaker.
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